When I was in New York last november the store still was in construction (see note here). It opened end november and I this time had the opportunity to visit it.
Quite an interesting experience with thousands of M&Ms food and merchandise articles all over the 25.000 sq ft 3-story store, all at a price !
I wouldn't have qualified the brand as an inspirational one which could give someone a drive to wear a M&Ms tee-shirt, to drink coffee in an M&Ms mug, or to carry belongings in an M&Ms bag, but many customers purchasing memorabilias in the store proved me wrong !
I don't know if the store is supposed to make any money (I suppose it should), but this flagship should nonetheless strenghthen the brand.
I also love the 2 giant screens outside the store which displayed humoristic, yet appropriate, M&M characters : on the above photo, an M&M as King Kong atop the Empire State Building and there's another one with azn M&M dressed as the Statue of Liberty.
M&M's is considered as a high end chocolate in the US ;-) so they deserve such a spot in Times Square! Hershey should be worried, this is direct competition, located right across the street...
Posted by: ilan abehassera | February 21, 2007 at 03:03 AM
and the M&M characters are hugely popular with American kids, enough to create a strong brand !
In the battle for high end chocolate (commanding higher margins), I see another product, Dove, as a winner, too. Hershey seems to lag behind.
Posted by: sebastien (NY) | February 21, 2007 at 03:12 AM
Hi buddies, we're now back to our hotel room after a delicous American dinner at TGI Friday !!
Posted by: Michel de Guilhermier | February 21, 2007 at 03:19 AM